The present invention relates to vehicle wheels, and particularly to a composite wheel including a metal with a polymeric decorative cladding.
Ornamental metal-plated polymeric claddings have been employed for providing a decorative surface to the outer exposed surface of wheels for several years. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,564,791; 5,577,809; 5,597,213; 5,630,654; 5,636,906; 5,845,973; and 6,085,829, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, represent different approaches for providing and attaching such claddings to existing wheels to provide a finished decorative appearing wheel. These wheel claddings offer design flexibility in that wheel claddings of various configurations may be used to cover a single style wheel.
Existing methods of attaching cladding to an underlying metal wheel include the use of an adhesive between the wheel and the cladding in localized areas. During curing of such adhesive, the wheel cladding is temporarily held to the wheel using the secondary cure caps that clamp the cladding to the wheel for a period of up to 24 hours. Some wheel designs provide a thick central hub that includes a means for fastening the cladding and the wheel together. However, such designs use a significant amount of material to construct the portion of the wheel surrounding the central hub, thereby increasing the overall weight of the wheel as well as the cost associated therewith. A center cap, also part of the cladding, is then placed within a center aperture of the wheel and is connected directly thereto.
This arrangement of the wheel, the cladding and the cladding center cap may cause problems when attempting to service the associated vehicle, and specifically when attempting to balance the tires thereof. In short, typical methods of balancing each tire include utilizing a tire-balancing machine that includes supporting the tire, wheel and cladding assembly upon a cone-shaped support positioned within the central apertures of the wheel and the cladding. Typically, the cone-shape support contacts the central aperture of the cladding, and centers the assembly within the balancing machine with respect thereto. As a result, the location of the central aperture of the cladding with respect to the wheel is highly critical. Another characteristic of typical tire-balancing equipment is the significant load placed on the cladding in the area surrounding the central aperture when the tire, wheel and cladding assembly are “clamped” within the equipment. Heretofore, the design of the wheel and the cladding have avoided loading the wheel cladding within the wheel and tire assembly during the balancing process, as loading the cladding would cause significant deflection of the cladding as the cladding pressure is increased, thereby effecting the tire balancing process.
A wheel and cladding design is desired that reduces the material required to manufacture the wheel, allows for precise alignment of the central aperture of the cladding with respect to the wheel, provides proper depth alignment of the cladding with respect to the wheel, and provides structural support for the cladding during subsequent tire-balancing processes.